


Snow White's Dutiful Knight

by traptrixnepenthes



Category: Future Card Buddyfight
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-17
Updated: 2016-07-17
Packaged: 2018-07-24 15:48:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,667
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7514161
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/traptrixnepenthes/pseuds/traptrixnepenthes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sofia Sakharov, proud member of Disaster, is left injured and unable to contact her compatriots after a mission goes badly awry. Unable to get back to a secure location, she's left wandering back alleys, when who should happen upon her but one of her classmates?</p>
<p>summaries are fake i'm sorry</p>
            </blockquote>





	Snow White's Dutiful Knight

“Wh-what happened to you?!”

It was the first time Sofia had ever heard anything other than a snarky monotone out of the delinquent’s mouth. Somehow, that seemed more important than the fact that she’d been discovered like this. Her Dark Core had gotten cracked in the fall, and her buddy skill couldn’t be accessed. She’d _thought_ the alleyways would be deserted, but standing here before her was the lackey of one of Shido’s scapegoats, Mamakari Megumi.

“Nothing happened to me. I’m fine.”

“You’re _bleeding_.” Megumi sounded…concerned.

“That’s a normal thing, you know. Every body has blood in it.” Sofia took a few steps towards her classmate, and it was clear how badly she’d landed on her leg. Getting back to headquarters would be…difficult. But if she could at least make it to Shido’s residence, then–

“You’re limping! You obviously aren’t okay.” Megumi pulled her phone out of her pocket– _a phone if she could just use that she could contact Kyoya and get out of here without worsening her injuries_ –and started dialing a number. “Look, sit down, I’m gonna call an ambulance, and–”

Sofia froze. She wasn’t supposed to exist in this country. Kyoya could falsify documents enough to enroll her in a school, but government level things were a completely different matter. Hospitals meant government, and the government meant–

_I can’t be found out like this!_

She settled all her weight onto her good leg and lunged at Megumi, swiping at the phone in her hand and knocking it to the ground. But her momentum was too much and with no good leg to catch her, she stumbled awkwardly and crashed into the other girl, sending them both tumbling to the ground.

Sofia scrambled up, weight on her good side, her blood smeared on Megumi’s front. She couldn’t just let the girl go home like this. “I…” What should she say? She had to say _something_ , with Megumi looking confused and in pain from the fall. She had to still look passably normal within her class. “I’m scared of hospitals! I…I can’t go to one. Please.”

A moment of silence, and then Megumi shook her head in disbelief. “I can’t believe our frosty vice president is afraid of a little anesthesia.” Her words were sharp, but there was something soft, too. She pulled herself up, and Sofia slid to the side. Sitting down was…less painful than she’d expected. “Is there anywhere else you can go, _princess_?”

“…there’s a, ah, friend I can call. He can help.” Even as she said it, it sounded suspicious. But then, so was Megumi, hanging out in alleys near dusk. “Can I use–”

She glanced over at where she’d knocked Megumi’s phone, and winced. These phones were getting too thin and fragile for their own good.

Megumi followed her gaze, and scowled. “Damn!” She picked up the broken phone and turned it over in her hands, trying to turn it on even thought it was obviously a futile effort. “Ugh. Well, at least I don’t have to replace the battery now. And no, you can’t use it.” She chucked it at the wall, and grimaced as it shattered even more.

She sighed, and pulled herself up. “Well. The phone can be replaced. And cuts close up. But if you died because of some weird disease that’s been cultivating in the trash back here…” She paused. “I guess I’d feel a little bad. Anywhere else you can go?”

“I…” It occurred to Sofia that there was a safehouse in the area. It wouldn’t be more than a place to stay for a couple of days, but it would have food, water, and medicine. She’d never needed to use it before, and it had completely slipped her mind. Letting outsiders know about it would be a huge breach of protocol, but… “There’s–”

“If there’s nowhere else, you can come to my place. We’ve got an entire first aid kit, and a free couch. Food and everything.” Megumi shrugged. “If that’s fine with Her Royal Highness, of course.”

Sofia narrowed her eyes, but shook her head. One person getting caught up in this was enough. “I think…my home might be closer. We could go there instead.”

“Oh, and you only _just_ remembered where your home was?”

“I…” Sofia shifted uncomfortably. “I don’t…go there often.”

“…oh.” Megumi tilted her head away. “Are you sure you wouldn’t rather come to my place? I mean…”

“ _No!_ ” Too forceful. She’d have to recover fast. “I mean, I don’t mind. There won’t be anyone there right now.” Her entire body sagged, and she looked up at Megumi tiredly. It wasn’t entirely an act. “I hurt, I’m bleeding, I’m tired, and I’m stuck in an alley filled with garbage and mold and…” Sofia took a deep, shuddering breath, as if she were about to cry. “ _Please._ ”

“I guess.” Megumi helped Sofia up, supporting her on her bad side. “Well, princess, where to?”

Sofia directed the girl through even more dark, gunky alleys, and through streets with no lights or people. It was fairly obvious, and Megumi even pointed it out.

“It _is_ a better idea to stay away from people, seeing as how I look and how you’ve got my blood all over your shirt.”

Megumi shrugged with her free shoulder. “True enough. Do you think it’ll wash out?”

Sofia’s glare missed its mark in the darkness, and they continued on, the only thing impeding their progress being Sofia’s incapability of remember the right way back.

“Hey.”

“What.”

“Do you think I’d do better at finding your house than you?”

“Shut _up_.”

“No, I’m serious. I genuinely believe sheer dumb luck will be better than your directions.”

“ _Fine_. Find it for me. Everything is on you now, o savior of mine.”

Ten minutes later, after a hastily remembered description of the exterior, Megumi grinned smugly as they stood in front of the safehouse. “Your castle awaits, your highness.”

“Thanks.” Sofia threw the word like a knife, but Megumi was unaffected.

“Anyways...” Megumi carefully detached Sofia from herself, making sure she could stand on her own. “You’re here, you can stand up. It looks like whatever was bleeding has probably stopped. That was everything you needed, right?”

She turned to go, and Sofia was almost too stunned to respond. As if she could let someone who’d seen her like this get away so easily. “ _Excuse_ me?”

“Mn?” Megumi turned back around, hand on a hip. “I mean, now that you’re here, you’re fine, right? Or,” her lips quirked into a smug grin, “does Aibo Academy’s very own princess need someone to tend to her every need?”

Sofia’s eyes narrowed, but she forced her breath out as evenly as she could. “Consider yourself knighted.” She can’t get into a conflict now, not while injured, and not when evidence could be left behind. “Besides, do you really want to explain why you’re wearing bloody clothing to your family when you could wash it out here?”

The other girl pondered for a moment, then shrugged. “Eh. I don’t have anything better to do tonight anyways. Does this mean the student council will overlook what we do?”

“You mean, more than we do now?”

“Point taken. I’ll vote you for president next election.”

Although her and Shido’s positions had been more installed by Kyoya than fairly voted on, Sofia appreciated the sentiment, what little of it there was, and limped to the door of the safehouse. Every one had the same lock, and that meant every one had the same key, and that meant Sofia could unlock the door without making it weird, not that Megumi probably cared at this point.

The inside was dark and smelled strongly of dust, and it was obvious no one had been here for a while. The last time Rouga had been in town he’d stayed here, so it at least looked a little lived in, and the the furnishings even looked like a normal home’s, if a bit sparse. She’d never been here before, but as she stepped in, Sofia felt _safe_. It helps knowing there’s someplace to lay down where no one else can see. She relaxed, just a little bit, and that drained all the tension out of her. She slumped against a wall, energy gone, but Megumi’s hands were there to support her again. Sofia weakly smacked at them, but to no avail.

“Hey, you don’t gotta keep acting like you’re a frosty ice princess for real, y’know.” Megumi’s voice was gentle, genuine this time, and she offered her shoulder to Sofia again. “No one's around but me now.”

She scoffed, but there wasn’t any weight to it. “What, and let you tell your friend all about how weak I am behind closed doors?”

“I mean, I don’t usually tell Jin when I’m bleeding, so why would I start with you?”

Sofia really didn’t have anything to say to that.

Megumi helped her in, floorboards cool under her aching feet, and she collapsed gratefully onto a couch in what was apparently Kyoya’s idea of a living room. Cushy, and kind of stifling. The other girl flicked on the lights and sat down in a chair, sinking into it.

“Damn.”

“Hm?”

“Your folks sure have expensive tastes. You sure you’re not a princess for real?”

Sofia snorted. As if. “You want to be an actual knight, then?”

“Sure. You can whisk me off to whatever fantasy fairytale land you come from, and i’ll learn to dress warmer.” Megumi stretched out, swinging a leg over the arm of the chair, and looked the absolute picture of contentment. “Where’s your first aid kit?”

Sofia struggled up, sitting up properly, and tried to stand. “I’ll--” She grunted as she put weight on her bad leg. “I’ll get it.”

She stumbled, and caught herself before Megumi could catch her again. But the other girl still was there before her, out of her chair, and pushing her back onto the couch. “Nope. Where is it?”

“...it should be under the sink in the kitchen.”

And then the other girl knelt to the floor in a single, sweeping gesture, taking Sofia’s hand delicately in her own. “And so, my princess, I must leave you now, and though parting is such sorrow, I will return to you posthaste.” She grinned. “That good enough?”

“I can do better.” It had been...some time since she’d fielded a friendly competition. “Oh, beloved knight of mine, permit me a gift before you go--a charm, a spell to protect you whilst you are gone from my sight.” Sofia pressed her lips to the back of Megumi’s hand, and even with most of her face obscured by hair, Sofia could still see the flush on her cheeks. Victory was hers. “So that you may return to my side evermore.”

Megumi jerked up, not snatching her hand away as quickly as Sofia had expected, and mumbled something about how playtime was over and she _really_ needed to find that kit. She was off and Sofia was left smarting with guilt over how a mercenary of her status had been reduced to _playing pretend_ , as if she were a normal, powerless  girl. She’d relaxed too much, being around this girl, and it couldn’t continue.

She pressed her face into her hands, and it hurt. There was a cut over her eye, bruises and scrapes on her cheeks, her lip split. There had been worse pain in her life, and this should have been nothing, but with someone so close and so caring it all felt so much worse. It was like before the Disaster, when she’d fall and scrape her knee, and her mother would scoop her up and kiss it and put a bandaid on it, but that was many years ago. Now, she was a trained assassin and mercenary, brought up to never show weakness and to never feel pain.

So why did she feel like crying?

Megumi's footsteps were loud in the silence, and Sofia jerked up, trying to look as if the pain really was no big deal. In the other girl’s arms were a first aid kit, a bottle of water, and a roll of paper towels, which were all unceremoniously dumped onto the ground. She shucked her jacket and tossed it onto the chair she had apparently claimed as her own, and sat on the floor. “You okay?”

“Of course.”

“Looked like you were about to cry.”

“I’m fine.”

Megumi shrugged. “If you say so. Lay down so I can clean your face up.”

She pressed a dampened towel against Sofia’s cheek, and it was cold against her raw face. Megumi’s fingers were light and delicate, the movements practiced and careful.

“Have you done this before?”

“Hm? Oh, yeah. Jin gets in fights sometimes. He never wins, though. I usually have to clean up for him.” She paused. “Both in the fighting way, and making his face look like no one was scrapping with him.”

“So you’re the stronger one? Maybe I was right to make you my knight, then.” The words slipped out before she could stop them, guilt rippling through her.

But Megumi was oblivious, and smirked down at her patient. “Wanna see me flex?”

Sofia coughed, and averted her eyes. “I’ll pass, this time.”

“I’ll save it for next time when we’re alone.” The towel moved up to the cut over her eye, Megumi carefully running over it with her finger. Crusted blood was cleaned away, and it was judged carefully. “This bled a lot, but it’s not really deep or anything. I think head wounds all just bleed a lot more than they’re supposed to.”

Disinfectant was applied, colder than the towel, and a bandage pressed over the cut. The way Megumi worked, the delicacy her hands had compared to Sofia’s brutal efficiency when she treated wounds, the small talk; all of it was more soothing than it had any right to be. Falling asleep with someone else in the room was too much of a breach of her principles, and Sofia wracked her brain for something to say, but all that came out was, “Your voice is nice.”

Megumi paused in her work, and then moved to the other side of Sofia’s face. “You’re a lot different in person from at school, y’know that? You’re always so cool and quiet and have all the answers but, I dunno. Like this you’re just...normal.”

“Am I?”

“Barring the filthy rich family, I mean.”

Megumi sat back, and in the light so close, Sofia could see the details of her hair. Soft and shiny, a peachy pink, softly feathered at the ends like the wings of a fledgling bird. Usually the only people she let so close were victims.

“You know...” Megumi paused, as if she was wondering if she should say what was on her mind or not. “I’ve actually been wanting to talk to you one on one for a while now. But I mean, it’s not like I could just approach you in public or while Shido’s around. I _do_ have a reputation to uphold.”

“Ah, the one where your only emotions are ‘sarcasm’ and ‘stoicism’? I promise I won’t spread any rumors.” Sofia carefully sat up, moving over and gesturing for the other girl to join her. “But why me specifically?”

“Well...” Megumi took her place next to Sofia, slouching back lazily. “Like I said, you always act so cool and distant all the time, so of course I’d want to know more about you. Do what no one else in the class can do.” She took a deep breath. “Just to be sure, this conversation is under sleepover rules, right? Nothing we say leaves this place?”

Sofia nodded, as if she’d ever done something like this before.

“I’ve...always thought you’re kind of pretty.”

Sofia blinked, staring at the girl next to her that had helped her, at the girl that had taken her to safety, at the girl she’d been admiring ever since she felt safe enough to do so. This time, she really was too stunned to even say anything.

“Shit. I made it weird, didn’t I?” Megumi stood up, heading back towards the kitchen. “Listen, I’ll grab some ice for your leg, alright? Sorry.”

“No! Wait.” The other girl froze, and turned back towards Sofia. “I...No one’s ever said that to me before.”

Kyoya had, once, when she was being recruited into Disaster. Just like all the other members, she’d been enticed by sweet words and money above her usual rates. But after she’d fought tooth and nail to be his second in command, she learned that compliments were just par for course in his attempts to bring anyone into the organization. It had, most likely, meant nothing, just like everything else he said.

But...there were no hints of an ulterior motive behind the girl's words. Kyoya did selfish things all the time, and Sofia had seen every one of them, although he never permitted his subordinates to do the same. Punishment worse than death lay down that path.

But what if he never found out?

"To tell the truth, Megumi..." It was the first time she'd said the other girl's name that night. "I also, well, ah..." The words couldn't form in her mouth, as if she'd be losing something precious if she said them. "...I also think you are very pretty."

It sounded horrible and awkward even as she said it, and Megumi looked stunned. Alarms started blaring in Sofia's head, and she tensed. If Megumi had a bad reaction, or, god forbid, _reject her_ after starting this, then there were ways to make her forget, or to make her sleep forever. But Megumi just crossed her arms, looking more than just a little satisfied with what was said. "Nice to know _someone_ around here has good taste."

A weight was lifted, and Sofia laughed, little more than an amused huff. “Oh, do I not count as good taste?”

“You ‘n me are the best taste in our entire grade. Too bad we’re the only ones that get it, huh?”

Megumi was still standing there, kind of awkwardly, and Sofia gestured to the seat next to her. “...you can sit down again, if you’d like.”

“Oh, uh, I actually do need to get ice for you. Your leg’s pretty banged up.” She waved a little and walked off. “Don’t miss me too much while I’m gone, Sofia.”

As soon as Megumi was out of the room, Sofia slumped over onto the couch, hands clasped tightly over her chest. Her first selfish act in the four years since the Disaster, and it was to flirt with someone! With a girl! _The_ girl! The girl that had captivated her ever since she’d first seen her! The girl that called her _pretty_! And who didn’t mean it as a way to coerce her into doing _anything_! Her heart was pounding like it did after her shot aimed true, but this was something much warmer than the feeling she got after her assignment was completed. It was something completely different, and so was the smile on her face--it wasn’t the satisfaction of a job well done, but something so much more wonderful than that. Something Kyoya could never, never hear about, not if she wanted to keep her job, or her memories of it. Her memories of _this_.

It was shameful of a professional like herself, since this girl could become a target of hers at any time. But that would only be if anyone found out, wasn’t it? Deep breath in, deep breath out. Kyoya would revel in it--but _only_ if he found out. As long as she could--

“Are you okay?”

Sofia jolted out of her thoughts, looking up to see Megumi with two bags of ice in her hands. She sat up slowly, not quite looking at the other girl.  “Oh, yes. I’m just thinking about some things.”

“Is it...cause of your family? Maybe we really should have gone to my place.”

Megumi kneeled down and wrapped one of the bags in a paper towel, pressing it against Sofia’s ankle, and then the other one, against her knee, which Sofia took. “No, it wasn’t anything like that. It was that talking with you like this is...nice.”

Megumi snorted. “Haven’t gotten that one before. Is it cause Shido’s the only person you talk to?”

“Well...” She thought about all of Shido’s complaining and whining and yelling and how she was supposed to just deal with it, on Kyoya’s orders. “That’s definitely part of it. But my family--” Kyoya’s face appeared in her mind once more. “--just expects me to stand there and look pretty and do whatever they say. There’s usually...fairly drastic consequences to anyone that doesn’t do what they want.” Defamation. Exile. Death. Worse.

“Your family sounds like it sucks.” Megumi tilted her head up at Sofia, unreadable. “Are you gonna get in trouble for this?”

“Not if they don’t find out.” Sofia smiled despite herself--the same warm-feeling smile she had before. “Can you keep a secret?”

“My lips are sealed.” Megumi grinned. “I’ll keep it a secret from everyone at school that you’ve got a cute smile, too.”

Sofia huffed, reaching down and snatching the ice from Megumi. “As if you have room to talk.” She pulled her leg up onto her lap, carefully balancing both bags of ice where they needed to be. “I have a fair amount of influence, you know. I could spread rumors of how _nice_ you are when no one else is watching.”

“Implying anyone would believe them.” Megumi plopped down next to Sofia again, and took one of Sofia’s hands in hers, going over it carefully. Her thumb slid over Sofia’s palm and up over her fingers, running over tips.

“...what are you doing?”

“Just trying to see if there’s anything else you need patched up, or anything weird.” Megumi flipped her hand over, going over the back. “Huh. Actually, I think I’ve found something out.” 

“Oh?” Her hands didn’t hurt, but, if there was something...

“Did you know, Sofia,” Megumi said, as she slowly interlaced their fingers, “that your hands are the perfect size for holding?”

Sofia smiled again, and Megumi smiled back. Warm. At peace. Safe. “Wouldn’t it be more accurate to say yours are? Since you’re, well, a bit smaller than I am.”

“Two inches is _nothing_. Everyone’s just way too tall.” But Megumi squeezed her hand gently. “Mind if I stay over? It’s too late really now for me to go home.”

“Won’t your family notice if you don’t come back?” Sofia refrained from saying that she hadn’t thought it was even a question that Megumi would be staying. No need to give her more ammo than she already had.

She shrugged. “Probably not. They’re used to me staying out all night over the weekend. They’ll just think I’m at Jin’s place. So this’ll be...our secret.”

The words were said with a lopsided grin that Sofia now recognized--one that was only present when Megumi was trying to get her embarrassed. But two could play at that game. Her free hand lifted to Megumi’s face, gently cupping her cheek. “Does that make you my secret?”

The other girl’s cheek was warm against her skin, and Sofia’s victory was assured. But Megumi just leaned against her hand and say, “Should you really be saying that to your knight, _princess_?”

And then she yawned, ruining the moment.

“Oh, wow. It really is later than I thought.” Megumi stood up, still clinging to Sofia’s hand. “How big’s your bed?”

This time, it was Sofia’s cheeks that heated up. Even if she expected Megumi to stay the night, she hadn’t expected...this. Every safehouse had the same lock, the same key, and the same floorplan. The furnishings varied, but since this one was obviously stocked by Kyoya, then... “...probably.”

“Let’s see it.”

The room at the top of the stairs was “the girl room”, as Davide put it. It had been set up for either Sofia or Terumi’s use, or for both of them, as the need arose. And in this particular safehouse, it looked...soft. A tasteful but understated dresser and chair, ceiling-high bookcases stocked with books of foreign myths and fairy tales, and, as some sort of joke on Kyoya’s part, a canopied bed that was just big enough for two people. Of course.

Megumi flopped onto it, rolling around. “Damn! I think I’m right, you really are a princess. D’ya think sleeping here will make me a princess too?”

“A princess knight, hm?” Sofia, standing gingerly on her bad leg, was rifling through the closet, trying to find bedclothes for both of them.

“Sure, I’ll get a kickass sword _and_ a kickass crown. What more could a girl want?”

“To have a shirt that doesn’t have someone else’s blood on it, perhaps?” Sofia held up a nightgown with frogs on it, something from “Terumi’s part” of the closet. “I think this one is fitting.”

Megumi sniffed, and took the gown. “This stays secret too, just so you’re aware.” She left the room in a huff to change, muttering about how _some things_ were worth her dignity.

Sofia changed into one of her own nightgowns--it was much like the one she kept at their headquarters, knee-length, sky blue, soft, warm. Maybe even Kyoya was capable of being kind, sometimes.

She laid down on the bed, and it was exactly the kind of thing Kyoya would consider a bed. It was too soft, and the canopy and curtains felt stuffy and almost claustrophobic. She valued her privacy, yes, but being caged in brought memories of the Disaster that she’d rather have forgotten. But the blankets were warm, her eyes were heavy, and she wasn’t on guard enough to care about how dangerous it was to sleep with someone else around. For the first time in a very long time, Sofia felt _safe_ in being tired, safe in someone caring about her, safe without a knife under the pillow. Her first selfish act, and she couldn’t be happier.

As she drifted off to the distant sound of a sink running, there wasn’t a single thought in her mind for the first time since Megumi saw her in that alleyway about how dangerous it could be for either of them if they got found out.

\--------

When Sofia awoke, Megumi was there, her face so very close on the pillow. She was asleep, splayed out kind of messily on top of the blankets, her hair still swept in wings over face. Compared to the usual airs she put on, the girl looked peaceful, and Sofia was hit with the urge to brush away her hair and see her face, but it passed just as quickly. The less precious memories she had of tonight, the better.

In Disaster headquarters, or even in Shido’s residence, she’d never gotten the luxury of sleeping more than a few hours before something or someone demanded her attention, or even the luxury of feeling secure enough to sleep when someone else was awake, and it was something she wanted to hold onto. So she grabbed one of Megumi’s hands, gripped tightly between both of her own, thinking about how if _just maybe_ the disaster never happened, this wouldn’t have been such a novelty. As it was, it would be dangerous for both of them for this to happen again, and there was some part of Sofia that hurt, thinking about how there couldn’t be a “next time” of this.

But for now, holding Megumi’s hand, warm and safe, she could keep playing pretend as a normal girl, as a princess with her beloved knight for a few more hours. She slowly drifted off again, and her dreams were about Megumi, the rest of Disaster, and herself, as if the Disaster had never happened at all.

**Author's Note:**

> the water megumi used to clean sofia's wounds is "acqua di cristallo tributo a modigliani" which is the most expensive bottled water in the world, at over $3000 for a single bottle. thanks for everything you do kyoya


End file.
